Lamar Class of ‘52 to reunite this weekend

Roughly half a century ago, a classmate of Vic and Alice Morris came up with a scheme to postpone a particularly dreaded test.

He told a few of us that he was going to have a seizure before the test to make the teacher forget about it, Alice Morris says. He fell on the floor and was gyrating and the whole room was sent into chaos. The teacher forgot about the test, too.

The sinister seizer is expected to be among the 300 people expected to attend Lamars 50th class reunion this weekend. And, medical personnel will be on hand.

Some classes, as Alice Morris puts it, are closer than others. Lamar High Schools Class of 1952 is rather tight-knit, having held reunions in 1992 and 1997. On top of that, a group of women from the class get together at Felix Mexican restaurant, a popular high school hangout, about four times a year.

Some of us just didnt want to wait five years to see each other, so we try to get together every four months or so and invite the people in the area not too far away, Alice Morris says. ##M:(full story)##

About 50 people took part in planning the reunion as a member of a committee or subcommittee, Alice Morris says, and such vast involvement has allowed 52 graduates to refrain from hiring a company to organize the get-together.

You wont believe how many hours people have spent just tracking people down, Alice Morris says, adding that committee members were able to track down all but about 30 members of the class. With the advent of the Internet, its gotten a lot easier to track people down if you know their birthdays and names, though. But we did this all ourselves, though, and I think thats part of what makes it so interesting. So many people feel like they were a part of making it happen, they just enjoy it that much more. We have a broad base of interest because we have so many people involved.

Alice Morris is part of a five-member team along with Helen Koehler Little, Shirley Williams Wheat, Marianne Pittman Irish and Margie Laughlin Curry in charge of overseeing the entire reunion. Vic Morris, meanwhile, is the only 52 class officer who still lives in Houston.

Together, the Morrises are in charge of the Saturday night celebration.

A party will be held Friday night featuring Ed Gerlach at the Renaissance Hotel, and Saturday afternoon alumni will choose between eating at Felix a tradition that hasnt changed, Alice Morris says or taking a tour of Lamar which has changed drastically since 1952.

Saturday nights celebration, which is expected to draw the biggest crowd, will be held at the Trillion Club in downtown Houston, while a brunch early Sunday will serve as a farewell party.

For the Morrises, reunions serve as reminders of a more innocent time one before nuclear fallout shelters, before Vietnam, before terrorism.

It was a really special time, a really special, privileged time, Alice Morris says. I wouldnt say we had more freedom back then, but kids were free to do a lot more without worrying. Houston was a safer place, the world was a safer place. There werent many drugs except alcohol. Someone smoking in the bathroom was the worst thing, the most out of bounds thing that anyone ever heard about.

Ive never grown up, Vic Morris says. Theres nothing more enjoyable than being with people you had fun with when you were young.